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Step 10Cut out the leather
In this step, you will cut out the leather.
Take the yard stick or carpenter's square ("the ruler") and lay it down beside the straight line at the mouthpiece end of the didge, so that when you cut with the utility knife along the straight edge, it cuts right on the line.
Press down firmly on the ruler with one hand, holding it in place, and then take the utility knife with the other hand and cut along the edge of the ruler. You want to pull the blade toward you, while holding it against the edge of the ruler, to ensure that your cut is straight and on the line.
Don't use too much downward pressure on the utility knife, you are just scoring the leather with the first cut. Once you cut along the line once, keep holding the ruler in place and pick up the utility knife and make another cut. You'll probably need to cut 3-4 times to get all the way through the leather.
Use this same technique to cut along the whole outline, except for the curve at the wide end.
Be careful when you get to one of the sections, where the outline changes direction. You don't want to cut past the end of the line and into the piece of leather that you are cutting out. Stop the cut where the outline changes direction, and then reposition the ruler and start the next cut on the next line.
To cut out the curve at the wide end, you'll need to cut it free-hand. Start at the corner and start pulling the knife towards you, keeping a close eye on the cut that you're making, to make sure that it follows the marks that outline the curve. The key is to not get in a hurry. It also helps if you get close to the leather, so you can see better.
On the first cut, you are just lightly scoring the leather. Once the leather is scored, you can use a little more pressure and you don't have to be as careful, because the blade tends to follow the score.
Once you cut all around the outline, you should be able to remove the piece of leather that you cut out. You may need to do run the blade along some of the cuts again, where the leather didn't quite get separated.
Once you remove the piece of leather that you cut out, you can erase the pencil lines on the leather.
Take the yard stick or carpenter's square ("the ruler") and lay it down beside the straight line at the mouthpiece end of the didge, so that when you cut with the utility knife along the straight edge, it cuts right on the line.
Press down firmly on the ruler with one hand, holding it in place, and then take the utility knife with the other hand and cut along the edge of the ruler. You want to pull the blade toward you, while holding it against the edge of the ruler, to ensure that your cut is straight and on the line.
Don't use too much downward pressure on the utility knife, you are just scoring the leather with the first cut. Once you cut along the line once, keep holding the ruler in place and pick up the utility knife and make another cut. You'll probably need to cut 3-4 times to get all the way through the leather.
Use this same technique to cut along the whole outline, except for the curve at the wide end.
Be careful when you get to one of the sections, where the outline changes direction. You don't want to cut past the end of the line and into the piece of leather that you are cutting out. Stop the cut where the outline changes direction, and then reposition the ruler and start the next cut on the next line.
To cut out the curve at the wide end, you'll need to cut it free-hand. Start at the corner and start pulling the knife towards you, keeping a close eye on the cut that you're making, to make sure that it follows the marks that outline the curve. The key is to not get in a hurry. It also helps if you get close to the leather, so you can see better.
On the first cut, you are just lightly scoring the leather. Once the leather is scored, you can use a little more pressure and you don't have to be as careful, because the blade tends to follow the score.
Once you cut all around the outline, you should be able to remove the piece of leather that you cut out. You may need to do run the blade along some of the cuts again, where the leather didn't quite get separated.
Once you remove the piece of leather that you cut out, you can erase the pencil lines on the leather.
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